


a place to be warm and welcome

by tosca1390



Category: Psy-Changeling - Nalini Singh
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 19:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1359595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tosca1390/pseuds/tosca1390
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Sahara brings the puppy home on a Friday.</i>
</p>
<p>Five introductions to Judd the puppy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a place to be warm and welcome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magisterequitum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magisterequitum/gifts), [empressearwig](https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressearwig/gifts), [spyglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spyglass/gifts), [theepiccek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theepiccek/gifts).



> For Jordan, and everyone else in the Judd puppy corner.
> 
> Probably the least tragic thing I've ever written.

*

 

{1} & {2}

 

Sahara brings the puppy home on a Friday. 

There is a no-kill animal shelter in San Francisco that both DarkRiver and SnowDancer support. One fine November day, Faith sends her an email with a photo attached. 

_He looks perfect_ , is all the body of the email says. 

Sahara sits with her laptop near the koi pond, looks out onto the grassy plains just shifting colors with the seasons’ change. She smiles. 

The puppy is a chocolate-brown long-haired mixed-breed, about three months old. When she reaches out a hand to him, in the middle of the shelter’s play area, he trots over immediately and nuzzles her palm, licks her fingers. Unadulterated joy shoots through her, enough that Kaleb, ensconced in meetings in Moscow, takes note. 

_Sahara?_

She smiles at the cool, interested tone, and takes the puppy in her arms as she kneels. He licks her chin and she laughs, her fingers sinking into his fur. 

“Vasic, look,” Sahara says to the Arrow serving as a helpful teleporter for her today. He waits outside the shelter, still and cool, his gaze perpetually dimmed with the weight of his actions. Sahara desperately wants to help them, all the Arrows – she just isn’t sure how, yet.

Vasic glances at the puppy as he twirls around Sahara’s feet on his new leash. 

“A dog,” he says evenly.

“A puppy,” she says with a smile. “Do you like dogs?”

The puppy goes up to Vasic and plops down on his foot, arching his neck up for a scratch. 

“I have never given it thought before,” Vasic replies. He hesitates just a moment before his long fingers reach down and stroke through the puppy’s fur at its neck. 

Sahara would press more, but she wants to get the puppy home before Kaleb arrives. It does seem to her that Vasic is more ginger in his teleportation, now that she has a puppy in her arms. And when he leaves them at the front door of the house, he pets the puppy once more. Sahara finds that extremely promising.

_He is perfect_ , she writes to Faith, complete with a picture of the puppy in its plush cushioned bed in the breakfast nook. 

 

{3}

 

Something is different, Kaleb thinks as he arrives home. 

Not a worrying different. But – 

And then, there is a flash of dark fur, circling his legs, yipping happily. 

_Sahara_? He queries, watching as the dog – a young dog, perhaps still considered an infant – circles his feet once and sits down in front of him, pink tongue hanging out expectantly. 

“You’re home!” Sahara exclaims as she turns the corner into the kitchen, smiling. 

He stands, gaze flickering between the puppy at his feet and the woman in the open entryway to the kitchen, light suffusing their home. She blinks wide blue eyes at him, flushed and happy. 

“Do you like him?” she asks as the puppy sits patiently, its tongue lolling out to the side. But it does not yip or bark irresponsibly. Kaleb likes that. 

“Whose is he?” he asks instead of answering. 

“Ours,” Sahara says with a smile. She comes forward into the kitchen, her flowery skirt moving like liquid at her calves. The puppy shifts and walks towards her. “If you want to keep him, that is.”

_Do you want to keep him?_ He asks, watching in fascination as the woman he’s always belonged to drops to her knees and cuddles the long-haired, brown-eyed dog close to her chest, her slim fingers sinking into the fur at its neck. 

“I think it would be wonderful,” she says, voice warm and full of affection. 

He can deny her nothing. Sighing, Kaleb approaches and also kneels, looking the puppy in the eye. “Hello, dog.”

The dog yips and licks Kaleb’s outstretched hand. The sensation is strange, but not unpleasant. 

“He needs a name,” she says, reaching up to cup Kaleb’s cheek. 

He meets midnight blue eyes, and blinks. “May we name him Judd?”

A laugh bubbles at her closed lips, but she nods. _After your friend_?

_It seems fitting_ , he replies, stroking a tentative hand through Judd’s fur. Judd tilts his head into the touch, and Kaleb is strangely taken aback by the affection from such a trusting animal. 

Sahara kisses him then, over the head of their new addition, and he shuts his eyes and enjoys. 

_Judd it is_. 

 

{4}

 

This is the first time Judd has been to Kaleb’s home. He had perhaps expected to track him here in order to kill him, reluctantly, once upon a time. Now, he comes as a friend. It’s utterly strange, but Judd is learning to accept the oddities of his life as they arise. 

Next to him, in a pretty blue coat that matches the indigo in her eyes, Brenna whistles. “Holy shit.”

“I did warn you,” Judd murmurs, ringing the doorbell. It is a useless step; Kaleb would never have let them get to the front door if they weren’t allowed to be here. 

“Baby, this is a mansion. No one can be warned about something this big,” she mutters. 

“I also recall warning you about myself, once upon a time.”

She grins lasciviously, eyes bright. Her blonde hair ruffles across her throat and cheeks with the cool Russian breeze, winter approaching. “Honey, you are just big enough.”

The door opens before he can reply, and there is Sahara standing there, looking healthy and flushed in a midnight-blue dress and cream cardigan. “Oh, he did really invite you!” she says with a laugh as she ushers them inside. 

Brenna’s brow furrows, adorably. “Why wouldn’t he have?” she asks, shrugging off her coat. The golden yellow dress underneath brightens her skin, lends a gleam to her eyes. Judd appreciates it immensely, and almost made them late for dinner because of it. 

Sahara waves a hand, hanging up their coats in the front hall of the cavernous, yet warm and welcoming house. “Kaleb sometimes doesn’t fully comprehend social niceties with friends,” she says with a laugh. 

Handing her the rhubarb tart they brought in lieu of wine, Brenna looks between Sahara and Judd with a grin. “Oh, I get it.”

“I am very friendly,” Judd says evenly. 

“It’s been an uphill battle,” Brenna retorts. 

Judd is about to reply when there is a jingle around the corner. As the three of them walk through the front hall towards the kitchen, a blur of dark fur about calf-height scrambles around the corner, and plants itself in front of them, tail wagging. 

“You got a dog?” Brenna asks with a wide grin, immediately dropping to her haunches and extending a friendly hand. The dog barks and sniffs; deeming her approved, he snuggles up to Brenna, who laughs and strokes her hands through his fur with a bright smile. 

Sahara’s face softens and flushes. “We did. About two months ago.”

“Astonishing,” Judd murmurs, observing Brenna and the dog with a slight smile. 

“What’s his name?” Brenna asks, glancing between Sahara and Judd. 

“We named him Judd,” Kaleb says from the depths of the kitchen, dark eyes fixed on two-legged Judd. 

For a moment, he doesn’t know what to think, or say. Brenna’s eyes widen and she can’t stifle her smile. Sahara is flushed pink, her hands planted on her hips. Judd stares at Kaleb, and tries to understand the connection. 

“That’s adorable,” Brenna says at last, rising. She has never officially met Kaleb, and walks over to the island where he leans to do so. “Hello,” she says, and takes his hand when he offers it. 

Judd’s gaze flickers to the puppy, who has turned its attentions to Sahara, and back to Kaleb. 

“He meant it well,” Sahara murmurs at last. 

There is a strange tightness in Judd’s chest. He settles onto his haunches and pets the puppy’s back, lets the puppy sniff and lick his hand. It is a tribute to a friendship that has been strained and worried at times, but always a rock of stability, even in the worst moments. Judd doesn’t know what to say. 

“I know,” he says at last, glancing at Kaleb as he and Brenna chat. Kaleb nods his way, face impassive. 

The puppy that bears his name sits on his feet during dinner. Apparently, it is a high compliment. 

Judd takes it. 

 

{5}

 

Sahara is curled up on their bed, dozing in the mid-afternoon spring sunshine. Her hand rests lightly on a small belly, warm soft powdery skin under her fingertips. She can hear Kaleb in the hall, voice a low murmur. 

“We have talked about this quite a bit,” he says, voice warm. It is only ever this tone when they are at home, safe and sound and in a house of their dreams and creation. She smiles, eyes opening to take stock of the room, the bed. Her ears strain for more. 

“I want this introduction to go smoothly. You are just as important to us as you always have been, but so is Elena,” he continues, his voice soothing. “And I hope that our practice sessions haven’t been wasteful. You have been performing very well.”

She stifles a laugh, and sits up in bed with a stretch. Her muscles still ache and her belly is soft still, carrying the stretch and weight as it has for nine months. But she feels loved, warmed through; a quilt from Tamsyn lays across the mattress in the bassinet on the other side of the room, and the nursery down the hall is full of gifts from the friends and family they’ve found and made throughout the years. A stuffed wolf animal sits next to a stuffed panther on the vanity in the nursery, equals to the end. 

Next to her, three-day-old Elena shifts on her belly, her star-studded onesie unbuttoned to the waist for freedom during sleep. Her blue eyes, an echo of her mother’s flutter open. But the fuzz of black hair is her father’s, and the set of her mouth could be his too, Sahara thinks. 

_Are you ever going to come in here?_ Sahara asks Kaleb with a smile, a pulse of love down the black and gold bond that connects them always. 

_I want him to be prepared._

Sighing, she carefully cups her hands under Elena’s chubby baby arms and lifts her up against her chest, cradling her gently. Sascha’s books on pregnancy and motherhood still cover Kaleb’s desk, flagged and highlighted and marked. 

“Are you ready, Judd?” she hears Kaleb ask, right outside the door. 

A soft whine. Kaleb takes it as an assent, for the door to their bedroom opens and he walks in, Judd trotting in at his heels. He has grown in the years since they adopted him, coming to Kaleb’s mid-thigh in height, his fur still chocolate-brown and lustrous. But he is a gentle dog, content to play in the tall grasses outside the house with Sahara, and some of the former Arrows who come by from time to time. Kaleb uses his Tk to play, too. In the evenings, Judd will sit in Kaleb’s office at his feet, or sit on the end of the lounge chair with them outside on the patio. It is a simple life, a contentedly domestic one.

Sahara has never been happier. 

“Judd, sit,” Kaleb intones as he sits on the edge of the bed. His eyes darken and shimmer as they fall on Sahara, holding their daughter. 

Judd sits, bright eyes watching them both. 

Sahara scoots over to the edge of the bed and shifts Elena’s weight in her arms. Kaleb’s hand is at the small of her back, rubbing soothing circles through her thin t-shirt. 

“Judd, this is Elena,” she whispers, holding out Elena’s tiny hand to Judd’s nose. 

Judd sniffs, and licks the small fingers. Against Sahara’s chest, Elena hiccups and makes a small mewl of a sound, though there is no psychic distress that Sahara can detect. 

“Well done, Judd,” Kaleb says. There is exhaustion in his voice, but pleasure too. 

“Let him up here,” she murmurs, turning to kiss Kaleb’s cheek. 

“He’s not supposed to sleep on our bed.”

“We should all be together,” Sahara says, voice warm and chest tight with all the love she has for this little family of theirs. 

Sighing in mock exasperation, Kaleb shifts to sit against the headboard, and whistles for Judd. Sahara shifts as well, resting against his chest as Elena shuts her eyes and curls to her breast, her breathing slow and even. With a yip, Judd jumps up and settles at the end of the bed, his paws tucked under his jaw. His eyes are fixed on the bedroom door. 

“All your talks paid off,” she teases after a moment. 

“They did,” Kaleb says, clearly pleased. His fingers tangle in her hair. 

This is their family, she thinks fiercely. She kisses his throat, feels his arm tighten around her shoulders. 

This is theirs. 

*


End file.
